Lin's Sacrifice
by victoraugust
Summary: I based this story on an image I saw on DeviantArt, a short story about Lin trying to save the avatar. It's my first submit, so please, anything you say will help me improve! Hope you enjoy it.


"Hurry up you weaklings"

"We're trying chief, stop yelling!"

Lin let out a sigh as Bolin and Mako carried Korra through the door she was holding open.

"Lay her down on the table!"

The chief let go of the door, which closed with an audible thud. Asami was already at Korra's side, holding her hand.

"She's still out cold. What are we going to do?" Asami cried.

Korra had collapsed mid-fight with Kuvira, without any warning. Asami saved her from Kuvira's killing blow at the last second, jumping out and shocking her with her glove, sending her flying. Of course, when she got up, she ordered her soldiers to kill the avatar and everyone else.

"I don't know miss Sato, but don't loose your cool."

"It won't be long until Kuvira's soldier's find us here, and without Korra, we won't stand much of a chance." Mako reminded them.

There was absolutely no way to fight off the wave of soldiers that was coming after them, Lin weighted their options, they were trapped on a underground room, with little chance of escaping without being seen.

"We might have dug our own graves coming here. We gotta think of some way to sneak out." Asami mumbled, now resting her head on Korra's shoulder.

She did have a point, in the hurry of the escape, they might have gotten themselves stuck in a worse situation than an all-out fight. Kuvira was an amazing fighter, probably even better than Lin herself. She recalled hearing her sister describe Kuvira as the most promising student she ever had. Lin looked around the room, and even though she knew they were all fighters, she knew they were still kids.

Mako and Asami were by Korra's side, talking to her. Bolin was sitting by a wall, with his head between his legs, looking at the floor, visibly shaken down.

"I don't think I have much of a choice here" Lin sighed "Kids, listen up, the only way we are getting out of here is by using a distraction. I will bait Kuvira's army away from the exit, and hold them there long enough for you guys to make it out." She said in her most confident voice, trying to hide the fear behind those words.

"Are you insane chief? They'll kill you for sure!" Mako protested. Lin was aware of that, but there was no other way.

"There's no way I'm letting you fight off those monsters by yourself Lin, I'm staying with you!" Bolin yelled, now getting up.

She knew those kids would disagree with her, but the only way to save the avatar was to stick with that plan.

"No Bolin, you have to stay with Korra, you guys might need earth-bending to clear a way to the exit." She said firmly

"Then I'll bait them chief! That is what I trained for, I won't run while you kill yourself for me!" Now Mako was stepping up.

"No, none of you are strong enough to fight them, you'll be killed before we even get to the exit. This is the only way, and you guys are going to do it!" Lin was now yelling orders, as if the people in front of her were her police officers.

"Chief..." Asami seemed to know it had to be done, but still couldn't accept it.

Lin felt herself loosing her cool. "BUT NOTHING! When I start fighting those mechs, you are all going to run towards the exit, and you will NOT look back. Is that understood?!" Her throat already becoming sore.

The silence remained in the room for the next minute. She knew no one would challenge her decision. Lin now made peace with her decision, already aware Kuvira's soldiers would probably kill her, she just had to buy the avatar enough time to escape.

She walked to the door, her armor seemed to weigh a ton, the sweat on her forehead was starting to drip, she tried to plan what she was going to do as soon as she walk out. A million scenarios were playing in her head.

"Listen here you three, you must get Korra to Republic City as soon as possible, I want you to get there as fast as you can, stay off the road and don't get caught." Silence ensued "And Mako, I want you to alert the police force, tell them to get the civilians out." She said calmly.

"Okay chief, I'll warn them. But promise me you won't get yourself killed, we are going to need you to defend Republic City."

"Take care chief, stay alive. Meet us as soon as possible."

It was hopeless, there was no way she could plow through the barrage of soldiers that were going to come after them. Her best hope was to try to allow the avatar to escape, and Lin was certain she would have to give her life to accomplish that.

Lin decided to sneak out at first, trying to find where the Earth Kingdom soldiers were, rather than trying to engage blindly, and probably get taken out much more quickly. She sneaked around until she found what seemed to be a search party. 3 full armored soldiers, and a Mech walking around.

"I hope this works out..." She mumbled before diving in from above with her steel cable on her hand.

While quick on her feet, Lin was equally able to throw powerful strikes on her enimies. She knocked out one of the soldiers on her landing, and without loosing her grip, started circling the Mech with her cable, dodging its blows with ease, and when the robot was completly entangled in string, a well-placed boulder to its core knocked it over.

"Hey you morons, come get me!" Lin screamed at the top of her lungs to the two remaining soldiers, before sprinting away.

The soldiers chased her at full speed, throwing sharp stones that whizzed past Lin's head, while she jumped onto rocks, avoiding their attacks. Lin stepped on a large rock and earthbended it up into the air. She was now in an elevated plataform, and watched the two earthbender soldiers from above, and from this height, she could see another wave of mechs coming in.

"Come on, I'll have your heads!" She screamed at the soldiers below, as more and more of them surrounded her.

As the soldiers approached, she noticed they were stopping about 50 meters away, and standing in a circle around her. She kept yelling insults, but the soldiers and Mechs held their ground, and at that point, she was completly surrounded. Sweat dripped down her forehead, and she scanned the wall of earthbenders around her trying to figure out why she was still alive.

"What the hell are those guys waiting for?" She whispered to herself, between short breaths.

As she stood in the middle of that circle of foes, the tought of the Avatar team escaping crossed her mind, the oportunity was there, and she had just about every Earthbender following Kuvira around her. Lin snapped out of the trance when she saw some of the Mechs moving away to make way for something.

"Are you kidding me? That cocky bitch!" In the distance, Lin could make out Kuvira walking towards her, in the corridor the soldiers opened.

"Chief, lower yourself and surrender, and I promise you won't be harmed." Kuvira said in her usual tone.

"I don't think so Kuvira. I guess your earthbenders will have to come and get me." Lin threatened.

"No, my soldiers won't have to bother with you; they'll be too busy killing the avatar and her friends. I'll deal with you myself!" Kuvira said, now raising the ground below her slowly to the same height as Lin.

That made a shiver run down Lin's spine. As Kuvira slowly rose up, the fear grew inside her. How confidente was Kuvira that she could beat her? Lin was the best earthbender of Republic City, she was responsible for training recruits, it had been years since she had an opponent that actually gave her a hard time.

"Aren't you getting a little too cocky there kid?" Lin started taking her metal boots off.

"You tell me." Kuvira said, suddenly trowing three metal spikes from her arms towards Lin.

Without losing her stance, Lin deflected the incoming attack. Kuvira now leaped foward, and engaged Lin in a close range martial arts battle, with impecable precision. She was incredibly fast, each blow targeting a diffrent spot, trying to find a weakness in Lin's defense. It was almost robotic, textbook martial arts; it reminded Lin of her prime a few years back, when she had a very similar, extremely agressive style.

"I will defeat you Lin; there is no way around it." – Kuvira said, while maintaining constant pressure on Lin's defense.

She had no doubt about that, Kuvira had energy to spare and it was only a matter of time before she found a weak spot. The only way Lin would have a chance was to play smart. She pulled back with a leap and bended the ground below Kuvira into sand. As both of them fell to the ground, Kuvira threw another metal piece at Lin's wrist, making a small cut on her fingers.

"I hope you can do better than that." Kuvira stood up, shaking the dust of her robes and armor.

"Don't get too cocky." Lin's hand had blood already dripping from it.

A second later, another Boulder was already being thrown by Lin, which Kuvira was able to brake in half mid-air. At this point Lin was already jumping at her, trying to get her with her guard down. Kuvira masterfully deflected her blows, keeping her stance perfectly still, without giving any ground.

"I expected better from the Republic City Police Chief." Kuvira said, while catching Lin's arm mid-strike.

The next strikes were all so quick they looked almost simultaneous. Kuvira was able to hit all of the weak spots of the police armor Lin wore. The damage was instant and heavy, Lin's breath was weak, she could feel blood inside her mouth, and the ache in her chest was growing hotter; She fell to her knees and tried to control the need to vomit.

"What... th-the hell was that?" The blood in her mouth had a taste of metal, making her sick.

"The gap between our skills is far greater than you imagined, you should really consider surrendering."

Lin tried to figure out how she was able to land that many punches so quickly. Her attacks were precise enough to target only the weak spots of her armor. Kuvira stood in front of her, with no expression on her face. There was no way Lin would be able to slow her down for much longer. As Lin lied on her knees, Kuvira called to one of her officers.

"Get the chief the medical attention she needs, with all of that bleeding; we don't have much time to save her." – She ordered.

Lin felt her vision failing, and every one of her limbs burned hot. She felt the arms of the Earth Empire soldier grabbing her arms and lifting her, and as she lifted her head, she saw Kuvira walking away. In that moment, she made the decision to keep going; she had no way to know that the avatar was safe.

"Don't you dare turn your back on me!" She mumbled.

With a firm grip, she grabbed the soldier trying to arrest her by the neck, and used the metal on her gloves to squeeze as hard as she could. The snapping that came next was loud and quick, but it made her stomach turn again.

"Come back here and face your end Kuvira, haha." She laughed as the soldier dropped by her side, dead, without taking her eyes of her foe.

"I really hoped you wouldn't go this far. It is a shame to spill such noble blood, your mother would've known better." Kuvira said, again without changing her tone.

"My mother would've killed you the first time you stated your opinions to the council." Lin's voice was weak, and cracked.

"Such a shame."

Lin knew she would not resist another hit and her body was too weak. She only had enough time to try one last thing, before the internal bleeding made her black out. She re-made her stance, hitting the ground with her feet, both hands at her side.

"I may not be as strong as my mother once was, but I am the strongest earthbender of Republic City, and I will not let your wretched army lay one finger on Korra." She said while concentrating on every piece of rock around.

Kuvira turned around, possibly predicting what the chief was attempting, but still no emotion could be seen in her face. The walls began to shake, like an Earthquake. The rock on the walls began to crumble; cracks on the ground began to grow.

"You do realize you are giving your life for an avatar that is weak, an avatar that was not able to protect the earth empire."

"She'll be strong enough to stop you, once she gets out of here" The decorations on the ceiling began falling down, and Kuvira's soldiers started to dodge the debris.

"We will see. Well, you won't." Kuvira said, she still had not moved, even with all of the commotion.

In an instant, Kuvira leaped forward and landed a powerful punch on Lin's chest. The sound of her ribs cracking was loud, and Lin froze. She could feel the blood in her stomach, and the air in her lungs was suddenly gone. Kuvira held Lin as she fell forward, and gently laid her on the ground. The earthquake stopped, and her soldiers started to crowd around both of them.

"May you rest in peace Beifong. You could have been a powerful ally in my conquest of our land." Kuvira said, now with a slight hint of sadness in her voice.

"Your quest will fail Kuvira, Korra will stop you. I just hope you are able to find redemption before the end." Her voice was fading, her vision was almost black and her legs and arms were numb. Kuvira stood up by her side, her eyes still fixed on her.

"Goodbye chief." Kuvira now started walking away, her soldiers, which crowded the space around them stood in silence for a few more seconds.

"I did what I could kid; please save the people I love." Lin whispered to herself, now without being able to see, her body feeling lighter than ever, grasping the last trace of consciousness she had.

The pain was now almost gone; she felt as if the cold rock she rested her head on suddently became softer; She couldn't move, not even an inch. The Beifong started slipping into a dream, letting go of what little she had to hold on to.

"You did your best kid; you've earned your rest." She heard her mother's voice speaking to her, as she fell asleep.


End file.
